Pickle ball is a game that incorporates elements of tennis, ping pong, and badminton. It is played on a badminton-sized court, where two or four players strike a perforated ball with rackets over a stretched net that is slightly shorter than a tennis net. Like tennis, the game starts by hitting the ball across the net from behind a baseline, a line drawn on the court that is parallel with and is spaced furthest from the net. The ball must be hit across the court and into the opposing team's service court, which is one of two rectangular sections located at the rear of the other team's half of the court. After the ball is served, the opposing team must allow the ball to bounce once in their service court before hitting it back over the net. Similarly, the serving team must also allow the ball to bounce once on their side of the court before hitting it back over the net. This is known as the “double bounce” rule. Once the double bounce rule is met, teams hit the ball back and forth over the net while it is in the air or after it has bounced once on their side of the court. Play continues in this manner until one team hits the ball into the net or out of bounds or allows the ball to bounce twice on their side of the court.
Many athletic play surfaces, including those used in sporting events such as pickle ball, are designed to be shock absorbing in order to reduce the likelihood of participant injury and to reduce fatigue. These athletic play surfaces often incorporate a variety of materials in order to achieve the desired shock-absorbing characteristics, provide a long useful life, facilitate cost-effective repair, etc. The cost of the initial construction of athletic play surfaces, such as tennis courts, basketball courts, pickle ball courts, etc. can be substantial. The ongoing costs of maintaining the athletic play surfaces as a result of deterioration and wear can be high as well. As the athletic play surface is used, any painted surface may have to be redrawn or repainted. However, in some cases, more substantial surface defects, such as cracks, loose areas, bumps, etc. develop. These types of surface defects can cause the ball to bounce or roll improperly, such that the play area might be unsafe and play is made more difficult. While certain minor surface defects can be patched through simple surface repairs, more extensive defects often require a complete replacement or resurfacing of the play area, and cannot simply be re-painted or patched.
One contributor to the costs of new construction is site preparation, which requires a large enough area to be cleared and prepared for a court surface to be laid. One way to reduce this cost would be to place a court over an area that has already been cleared and is sufficiently compacted, such as a concrete roof area, asphalt or concrete parking area, etc. A contributor to the costs of ongoing maintenance is breaking up and removing the existing or prior athletic play surface. This cost could be reduced or eliminated by simply placing a new court over the pre-existing surface.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method for forming an athletic play surface that addresses the above-described problems.